The Cat’s Eye Shell Read Online Free PDF Page B

could light a fire and cook something hot, and rest up for the night.’
    â€˜If we had anything to cook,’ Nat said dourly. ‘I’d best go down to the village and see if I can buy some supplies.’
    The priest frowned. ‘It’s a small village. It’d cause a lot of talk.’
    â€˜Best not,’ the duke said with a sigh. ‘We’ve managed to shake off those soldiers. We don’t want to alert anyone to our presence.’
    â€˜It’s dusk. The fish could be biting,’ Lord Harry said eagerly. ‘Luka, how about a spot of fishing?’
    Luka’s eyes lit up. ‘All right.’
    â€˜It’s a shame we don’t have Sweetheart,’ Emilia said, sitting on an oak settee and stretching out herhot, tired, dusty feet. ‘She’d catch us a whole string of fish.’
    â€˜Who’s Sweetheart?’ the duke asked, amused. ‘Your sister?’
    â€˜Our bear,’ Emilia answered.
    The duke laughed out loud. ‘Of course! The only thing you two lacked was a dancing bear. I do suppose she dances?’
    Emilia nodded. ‘And plays football.’
    â€˜If we were living in happier times, I’d insist on coming and playing a game with you all,’ the duke said. ‘As it is, I can only be grateful she’s not here. That monkey is enough trouble!’
    Zizi bared her teeth at him and jumped up and down, shrieking. Luka picked her up and cuddled her. ‘She’s not any trouble!’ he said defensively.
    â€˜Of course she’s not,’ the duke replied, a smile lingering on his mouth.
    â€˜She gave us away to the soldiers at Portsmouth,’ Tom muttered.
    Luka rounded on him. ‘It wasn’t Zizi who gave us away, it was you, making so much noise with your oars!’
    â€˜Boys, boys!’ the duke said, holding up his hands. ‘No arguing, please. Let’s set to and make this place a bit more comfortable, so we can rest tonight, all right? Harry, you and Luka go and catch us some fish, and I’ll see if I can’t get this fire going. Nat, could you see if you can find a broom? This room could do with a good sweeping!’
    As he spoke, the duke took off his heavy velvet cloak, flung it over the back of the settee and knelt by the fireplace, rolling up his billowing sleeves and looking about for a hearth brush. Luka decided he was liking the duke more and more every day. Although he was quick to take command, the Duke of Ormonde did not sit around and expect to be waited on, and he had given himself the most unpleasant job, for the fireplace was full of dust and ashes and cobwebsand broken birds’ nests. It was not how Luka had expected a duke to behave.
    â€˜I’ll go and look through the garden,’ Emilia said, though she was so tired all she wanted to do was sit and stare. ‘There might be some berries or fruit.’
    â€˜I’ll go with you,’ Tom offered, and she smiled at him wearily.
    â€˜Don’t be seen,’ the duke warned them. ‘We’ve managed to escape the soldiers, thanks to Father Plummer here. Let’s do nothing to draw their attention again.’
    â€˜In the morning we’ll try to find a safe passage to France for you, my lord,’ Nat said. ‘Maybe from Brighton.’
    â€˜Like His Highness,’ the duke said meditatively. ‘He found a ship there, that carried him away safely.’
    â€˜I have a better idea,’ Father Plummer said, looking up from his rosary which he had been quietly fingering.
    â€˜Is that so?’ Lord Harry said, with a hint of a sneer. ‘And what might that be?’
    â€˜Smugglers,’ the priest said calmly. ‘They know all the secret ways in and out of the country. They’ll get you out without anyone being the wiser. For a price, of course.’
    Emilia’s heart missed a beat. ‘Smugglers,’ she breathed. Gypsy Joe had told her that the Wells family,